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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bat — the animal
  4. perch — the fish
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bound — certain
  9. spring — the season
  10. season — in sport
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chest — a box
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bound — obliged
  15. tear — from crying
  16. season — of the year
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. tear — from crying
  21. kick — in football
  22. chest — of your body
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. season — to add flavour

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com